Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) – Female Motorcycle Owner Stats

The Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) is a not-for-profit national trade association that supports motorcyclists in the US by representing “manufacturers, distributors, dealers and retailers of motorcycles, scooters, ATVs, ROVs, motorcycle/ATV/ROV parts, accessories and related goods and services, and members of allied trades such as insurance, finance and others with a commercial interest in the industry.” While its name has changed over the years with the current name in use since 1970, it has existed since 1914.

In December 2015, the MIC released updated data concerning women riders, and it’s all great news. Female motorcycle owners are at an all time high with 14% of all bike owners. This has been a steady increase since 1998, when the number was 8%. The number of female owners actually more than doubled between 2003 and 2014. Among the more than 30 million who have “ever swung a leg over a motorcycle”, 25% are women when passengers are figured in.
When surveyed, 34% of the women owned cruisers, followed by scooters at 33% and sport bikes at 10%. In a survey of about 48,000 households, when asked to share their top three reasons for riding, the women responded with “fun and recreation,” followed by “sense of freedom” and “enjoy outdoors/nature.” Their most important factors for choosing and purchasing their motorcycles were “fuel economy” and “test rides”.

Some other key points in the survey: The median age for female motorcyclists is 39 versus 48 for males. More than 49% of women motorcyclists perform their own maintenance or have a friend or relative do it, instead of taking their bikes to a shop. New bikes are preferred over used by 57% of female riders, 49% of female motorcyclists are married, and 47% of female motorcyclists have a college or post-graduate degree.

The MIC is located in California and is in partnership and/or affiliated with Motorcycles. Org, GearUpEveryRide.com and HelmetCheck.org.